Defining an improvement plan to address design management practices within a UK construction company

A UK based design and construction civil and building engineering company has entered into a partnership with Loughborough University and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to develop and deploy design management tools capable of making significant improvements to its design management performance. Before suitable tools could be identified it was necessary to establish the current state of practices within the organisation. This paper describes the methodology, results and conclusions of this initial study. It discusses the current views and approaches to design management within the company, and identify areas where improvement is necessary. Many of these are likely to be relevant to other design organisations. The paper then puts forward a strategy capable of driving change throughout the company. This paper is likely to be of interest to those involved in design management and the development of tools and practices to help the industry improve design management performance.

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